Rauðúlfs þáttr
Rauðúlfs þáttr is a short
The visit
The story relates King Olav's trip with his retinue, including the queen and bishop, to “Eystridalir” (now Østerdalen) a then rather remote part of Norway, bordering on Sweden. He visits Rauðúlfr and his family who have been accused of cattle theft. Rauðúlfr and his two sons, Dagr and Sigurðr, turn out to be wise men, skilled in astronomy, time reckoning and physiognomy among other things. There is a feast in the evening where the king asks the bishop and six noblemen together with their host to relate about their skills, which they do one by one. After that the king and his retinue are led to a new house in the yard to spend the night.
The rotating house
The geometry and ornaments of the house are described in detail. The house was round, with four doors placed equidistantly. The roof had a dome, supported by twenty pillars. The house was divided into four quarters (presumably by corridors leading from the doors to the centre). The house was also divided in three concentric parts: a round central platform with steps and two outer parts divided by a fence. The central platform had a large bed where king Olav was to sleep. The bedposts had large spheres of gilded copper and projecting iron bars, each supporting a tripartite candle. The king's retinue was ordered by rank as follows. The queen was in the quarter on his left side with her ladies in waiting. The bishop was in the quarter on his right with the clerics. Three noblemen were in the quarter above the king's head, but three others in the opposite quarter. Twenty people slept in each quarter in the inner ring, but forty in the outer ring, 200 people altogether.
As the king lay in the bed, he observed that the ceiling was all decorated with scenes depicting the entire creation. The apex of the dome had the godhead in a mandorla surrounded by the orders of angels. Out from there were the planets then the clouds and winds, then terrestrial plants and animals, and finally the sea and sea creatures. The outer ceiling, outside the pillars, had stories depicted of ancient deeds. Just before the king fell asleep, he noticed that the house was rotating.
The dream
King Olav then had a most peculiar dream. When he woke up the next morning, he went to see Rauðúlfr and asked him to decipher it. Rauðúlfr knew the dream without being told, described it to Olav (and the reader), and expounded its meaning. King Olav had seen a huge
Research
Early researchers noted the debt Rauðúlfs þáttr owed to the dream of
The crucifix and the kings of Norway, a table
Part of body | Material | Decoration | Reign |
---|---|---|---|
Head | Luminous red gold (rautt gull) | Rainbow coloured mandorla. Angels and heavenly glory | Ólafur Haraldsson (St. Olav) (1015–1028) |
Neck | Copper | Greek fire (skoteldur) | Sveinn Alfífuson (1030–1035) |
Breast and arms | Refined silver (brennt silfur) | Paths of the heavenly bodies (sun moon and stars/planets) | Magnús góði Ólafsson (1035–1047)
|
Below breast | Polished iron | Sagas of ancient kings and heroes | Haraldur harðráði (1047–1066)
|
Belly above navel | Gold alloy (electrum) (bleikt gull) | Trees, flowers and tetrapods | Ólafur kyrri (1066–1093) |
Belly: navel to genitals | Silver alloy (unrefined silver)(óskírt silfur) | Magnús berfættur (1093–1103)
| |
Thighs | Flesh coloured material | Sigurður Jórsalafari (d. 1130) and Eysteinn Magnússon (d. 1123)
| |
Legs and feet | Wood | A time of strife between the (claimed) sons and grandsons of Magnús berfættur |
See also
Notes
- ^ Johnsen, O.A. and Jón Helgason (eds.) 1941. Saga Óláfs konungs hins helga. Den store saga om Olav den hellige. Efter pergamenthandskrift i Kungliga Biblioteket i Stockholm nr. 2 4to med varianter fra andre handskrifter. Norsk Historisk Kjeldeskrifts-Institutt. Oslo. Vol. II.
- ^ Cleasby-Vigfússon (1874), Lyritareiðr-Lýsing
- ^ Picherit, J.-L. G. (ed. and transl.) 1984. The Journey of Charlemagne to Jerusalem and Constantinople. Summa Publications, Inc. Birmingham, Alabama.
- ^ Turville-Petre, Joan E. 1947. The story of Rauð and his sons. Transl. from the Icelandic by J.E. Turville-Petre. Viking Society for Northern Research. Payne Memorial Series II.
- ^ Faulkes, Anthony. 1966. Rauðúlfs þáttr. A study. Studia Islandica 25. Heimspekideild Háskóla Íslands og Bókaútgáfa Menningarsjóðs. Reykjavík.
- ^ Schlauch, M. 1932. The palace of Hugon of Constantinopel. Speculum 7: 500-514.
- ^ Faulkes, Anthony. 1966. Rauðúlfs þáttr. A study. Studia Islandica 25. Heimspekideild Háskóla Íslands og Bókaútgáfa Menningarsjóðs. Reykjavík.
- cosmological allegory. Skáldskaparmál 4: 179–209, Stafaholt, Reykjavík.
- ^ Einarsson, Árni. 2001. The symbolic imagery of Hildegard of Bingen as a key to the allegorical Raudulfs thattr in Iceland. Erudiri Sapientia II: 377–400.
- ^ Loescher, G. 1981. Rauðúlfs þáttr. Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum und Deutsche Literatur 110: 253–266.
- ^ Kurdzialek, M. 1971. Der Mensch als Abbild des Kosmos. Miscell. Med. 8: 35-75.
- cosmological allegory. Skáldskaparmál 4: 179–209, Stafaholt, Reykjavík.
- ^ Meyer, Ann R. 2003. Medieval Allegory and the Building of the New Jerusalem. D.S. Brewer, Cambridge. 214 pp.
- ^ Einarsson, Árni. 2001. The symbolic imagery of Hildegard of Bingen as a key to the allegorical Raudulfs thattr in Iceland. Erudiri Sapientia II: 377–400.
- ^ Mann, J. 1994. Allegorical buildings in medieval literature. Medium Ævum 63: 191-210.
- ^ Whitehead, Christinia 2003. Castles of the Mind. A Study of Medieval Architectural Allegory. University of Wales Press, Cardiff. 324 pp.
- ^ Finckh, Ruth 1999. Minor Mundus Homo. Studien zur Mikrokosmos-Idee in der mittelalterlichen Literatur. Palaestra 306. Untersuchungen aus der Deutschen und Skandinavischen Philologie. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. Göttingen. 475 pp.
- cosmological allegory. Skáldskaparmál 4: 179–209, Stafaholt, Reykjavík.
Further reading
- Bear & Company, Santa Fe, New Mexico. 1987.
- Hildegard of Bingen. Liber Divinorum Operum. Cura et studio. A. Derolez & P. Dronke (eds.). In: Corpus Christianorum. Continuatio Mediaevalis XCII. Brepols. Turnhout 1996.
- Peck, R. A. 1980. Number as cosmic language. pp. 15–64 in C.D. Eckhardt (ed.): Essays in the Numerical Criticism of Medieval Literature. Associated University Press, London.